The Dutch Parliament decided by a majority on Tuesday (Mar. 7) to urge the Dutch government to block the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur in Brussels.
The reason is the alleged risk of unfair competition that the country’s farmers would face if trade agreements including agricultural products.
Dutch MEP Esther Ouwehand of the Animal Party praised the fact that the majority in Parliament, including one of the government’s coalition partners (the Christian Union), wants to put “an end to the free trade agreement with Brazil, which is extremely bad for the Amazon, animals, and Dutch farmers.”
“The time for these kinds of nefarious free trade treaties is over,” added the MP, who tabled the parliamentary motion calling for the Mercosur treaty to be blocked if it includes agreements on agricultural issues.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals (VVD) and Christian Democrats (CDA) voted against the motion.
The Dutch government has not yet taken an official position and said it would do so when the European Commission presents the final treaty document to the member states.
But the parliamentary majority urges it to “make it clear to the European Commission and at meetings of trade and agriculture ministers that the Netherlands will, in any case, block an EU-Mercosur treaty that includes agriculture.”
The free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur was frozen during the term of former president Jair Bolsonaro. After the return to power of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, negotiations and bilateral contacts were reactivated.